


Nox

by roseglove



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-11 11:35:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11147583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseglove/pseuds/roseglove
Summary: "Your name's Nox? That's rough."





	1. Prologue

"Mum! Mum! My letter's here! It's here Mum!"

A small boy ran down the stairs looking as if death himself was chasing him.

A woman, sat at the kitchen table, looks up with a grin on her face.

The small boy, eleven in age, jumps up and down, now standing in front of the woman, presumably his mother.

"Well, why are you standing there? Open it!" The mother urges the boy.

The boy holds an envelope adrrssed to _"Mr. Nox Roberts"_ in his hands.

A grin on his face, the boy opens the letter and skims the text.

"I'm going Mum! I can go!"

The woman joins the small boy in jumping up and down. They laugh, collapsing onto the chairs.

After a few moments of silence filling the air along the sight of grins, the woman speaks.

"Want to go now? We can get you a wand and-"

The box jumps to his feet, grin spreading wider than before.

_"What are you waiting for?"_


	2. Chapter 1

**_Nox_** sighed, taking his place on the windowsill next to his best friend, Penny Murley. The witch looked up from her DADA homework and smiled apathetically.

"It was those boys again, wasn't it? The Ravenclaws?"

"Yes. I don't know how they can spend so much energy picking on someone due to their _name_."

Penny shook her head. "Neither do I. Honestly, they're just worthless prats, that's all."

"I know. It still bothers me though."

The pair sat in silence for a while.

"So we have a DADA assignment that I didn't know about?"

"Third one this year." The Hufflepuff girl rolled her eyes, laughing.

Nox sighed, taking a look at her parchment.

"Alright. What is it this time?"

"15 inches. It's on werewolves and how the moon affects them."

"Really? A 15 inch essay on werewolves?"

"Original, I know."

"So how shall we procrastinate this one?" The boy grinned.

"I'm thinking we shove our faces with chocolate until we feel too sick to go to dinner. Thoughts?"

"I think that that is a brilliant idea."

⇞

"I feel worse than I could even imagine."

"This was your idea Penny. Don't you dare forget that," Nox groaned, rolling into his side. "Besides, I had more than you did."

"Yes, well, I.... ohhh I feel terrible. Don't talk to me. I might vomit."

The two sixth-years were on the floor for quite a while, not speaking to each other, and groaning due to the stomach aches that they had imposed upon themselves.

After what felt like hours, Penny spoke.

"It's the full moon tonight."

"Good observation Penny. Is the sky blue as well?" Nox replied, a little bitter about the fact that it had been her idea to eat all of the chocolates.

"Hey! You agreed to the idea! And as a matter of fact, yes, the sky is blue."

"Sorry, Pen. I'm just still feeling a bit off. What about the full moon?"

"You're going to run off again tonight, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. The moon looks so beautiful on nights like this. Wanna come?"

"And do what Nox? Look at the sky?"

"Well, yeah. It really is beautiful, you know."

"Nox, I know that astronomy is your thing, but you know that it really isn't mine. I'll leave the sky-viewing to you."

"You sure? It's supposed to be especially bright tonight. There hasn't been a cloud in the sky all day!"

"Do you remember the last time I joined you?"

"You can't seriously be mad about that. There are wolves that live in the forbidden forest. So what?"

"So, it sounded like a werewolf. And werewolves are dangerous, Nox."

"Penny, there aren't any werewolves at Hogwarts. There are _wolves_ , yes. Have you heard of wolves, Penny? They too, howl at the moon. Amazing, isn't it?"

"Nox..."

"Look, Penny. I won't make you come with me, but please, don't decide not to come because you think that there's _werewolves_.

Penny huffed in annoyance. "Fine. But I'm still staying here tonight."

"Alright, alright."

Another pause.

"It's about dinner time right now."

Penny rolled over, groaning.

"Yeah. I feel you," Nox nodded. "Wanna play chess?"

⇞

 ** _Remus_** sighed, sitting on a windowsill in his room. He felt the presence of Sirius next to him. Tonight was the full moon, and he was terrified. He always was. No matter how many transitions he had to go through, it never got easier, and he didn't know if it ever would.

"It's the full moon, isn't it? The thing that's putting you on edge?"

Remus nodded, and Sirius placed a comforting hand of the brown-eyed boy's arm.

"We'll be there for you, you know. Just remember that."

"I know. And it really does help. Thank you."

"Any time mate. You know we're here for you. No matter how many senseless jokes we make."

They laughed at this.

"So how's it going with that girl?"

"Which one? They all adore me!"

Remus snorted at this, and Sirius shoved him jokingly.

"I _mean_ the one who you've been trying to get the attention of since third year. The Hufflepuff who won't give you a second glance."

"Oh. That one."

"Yes that one. Why can't you just talk to her?" Remus asked, the mood becoming a little more serious.

"She's... well... she's totally uninterested."

"Have you asked her out at all?"

"Well, no. But," Sirius hastened after seeing his best friend's expression, "she's so... out of my league. She's so out of my league."

"I thought _you_ were out of everyone's league. Not the other way around. Besides, she doesn't seem to be one to think that she's out of someone's league."

"Well no. She isn't. That's jut the thing," the black haired boy groaned, falling back into his bed. "She's so nice to everyone. And she's funny, and pretty, and perfect. She's perfect."

Remus laughed. "Whoa. Slow down! You're beginning to sound like James!"

"Am not!"

"Oh, you so are! And you haven't even had a conversation with her! Why not?"

"She's always with this guy." He muttered glumly.

"She doesn't have a boyfriend though." Remus said, confused.

"No, she doesn't. He's her best friend. And he's always around her. Always. And when he isn't around, she's talking to someone else."

"Sirius, mate, you've got to talk to her."

"I know, I just don't know how to."

"You're Sirius fucking Black! Of course you do! You're the guy who's so full of himself it's unbelievable! Come on man! Smarten up!"

"On the subject of how great I am," Sirius began, and Remus snorted, "Tonight seems like a great night to shove my face with food from the great hall. Do you agree, or do you agree?"

"I completely agree, Padfoot. To the great hall?"

"Why yes, Moony. I believe that that is a fantastic idea!"

"To the great hall!"


	3. Chapter 2

**_Nox_** made his way up to the astronomy tower after everyone else had left the common room, including a very grumpy Penny. Not only had the girl been defeated twice at wizard chess, she had been beaten three times at exploding snap.

He was almost at the staircase to the tower he went to once a month when he heard a sound behind him.

" _Meow."_

Nox cringed. It was a cat. Sure enough, when he turned around, Mrs. Norris, Mr. Filch's cat, was sitting there, head tilted. He sighed, hearing the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway.

Instead of seeing Filch there, however, Nox was pleasantly surprised with the appearance of Professor Slughorn, the potions master, and Slytherin head of house.

"What are you doing about at this time of night?" The professor asked, chuckling.

"N-nothing, professor. Just a... midnight stroll."

Slug horn chuckled again. "Ah, I see. But you know the rules! Let me escort you to the headmaster's office."

Nox groaned internally. He was going to have to go back to his common room.

As Slughorn began to lead him down the hallway, another set of footsteps sounded. Nox heard the voice before he turned to face it.

"What's this, Professor Slughorn?"

Sure enough, the voice belonged to Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts.

"I found this young man in the hallway, and am bringing him to Dubledore." The potions master said in his usually happy tone.

Filch gave a nasty look to Nox, who knew the caretaker was disappointed that he hadn't caught the Hufflepuff boy instead.

They left the greasy-looking man behind and continued on. When they had reached the statue that would lead them up to the headmaster's office, Slughorn called out, "lemon drop", as if it was the most important announcement he had ever made, and the statue turned, revealing a spiral staircase.

The pair made their way up the stairs, and found the door to the headmaster's office open already. Dumbledore sat at his desk, quill in hand, no doubt dealing with official business.

Slughorn cleared his throat and the headmaster looked up. "Dumbledore, this boy was found walking around the castle after dark. I'll leave him to you." The Slytherin head of house then turned on his heel and left the headmaster and the sixth-year.

"I figured it would be a matter of time before you were caught." Dumbledore chuckled.

"Professor-"

"Don't worry, Mr. Roberts. I know you had nothing but good intentions. You were making your way to the astronomy tower, were you not?"

"How did you-"

"Know about it? My dear boy, I know _everything_ that goes on in this castle."

"Then why haven't you stopped me from going before?" The Hufflepuff asked, confused.

"I see no harm in looking at the stars once in a  while. Do you?"

"Well I mean-"

"Do you believe that there is harm looking at the stars?"

"No! No, not at all. It's just... well... I broke the rules, professor. Are you not at all cross?"

"Should I have a reason to be?" Dumbledore questioned, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

"No! No, of course not!"

The two sat in silence for a moment, before Dumbledore spoke, eyes twinkling.

"Don't you have stars to be observing?"

"I-"

"Get on your way! And this time, maybe avoid getting caught."

The sixth-year smiled brightly before turning around and leaving the office, leaving the silver-haired man smiling to himself.

The Hufflepuff raced up to the astronomy tower, not wanting to miss the sky that night. Mars was coming into orbit, and he wanted to see it more than he wanted to pass Transfiguration. Which was quite a bit.

As the boy made his way up the lengthy staircase, he heard a howl, and his mind went back to what Penny had said earlier. She was right. There weren't usually wolves around these parts of Scotland, and if there were, it was only one. Maybe a line wolf, or one separated from his pack.

But... maybe Penny had been right. Maybe there were werewolves at Hogwarts.

Although Penny usually had crazy ideas, and nine of them ever actually happened.

As the boy leaned over the railing, he looked down to the forbidden forest. And what he saw was the strangest thing. He saw a big black dog, and what looked like a stag leading a bit creature into the forest.

Of course, Nox wrote it off as a hallucination. After all, he had been looking at the sky for hours now, and it was no doubt much later then he thought. He was tired, was all.

And so the boy named after a spell made his way back to the Hufflepuff common rooms, falling into his bed with a sigh.

⇞

 ** _Remus_** woke up with a groan, finding himself in the hospital wing. He couldn't remember anything about the night before. But then again, he usually couldn't. The wolfsbane potion had been helping with his transition, of course, but they were still terrible. And judging from the pain he was experiencing on his left cheek, the night before hadn't been an easy one.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Mme. Pomfrey quietly fixing bandages for a patient that was either Remus himself of invisible. As per usual, Remus Lupin remained the sole occupant of the hospital beds.

The quiet didn't last long, however, as three boys found their way into the wing.

Sirius was the first to Remus' side, asking over and over again if he was okay. James came over and said that of course Remus was not okay, because Remus had a giant cut running the long of his face. Sirius said that one doesn't point out things like that, as it is considered insensitive, and James retorted by calling Sirius a git.

Peter and Remus just shook their heads at the pair, and started their own conversation.

"Are you feeling alright?" Peter questioned, wanting nothing less then for his friend to be in pain.

"Not great, but I'll be fine. I always am." Remus replied, giving the blond boy a weak smile.

"I don't know how you do it. With being a... werewolf... and all, you'd think that your grades would be rubbish, and yet here you are!"

Remus smiled at Peter. A full smile this time. 

 

Mme. Pomfrey soon came over to separate Sirius and James, who had transferred subjects and were now arguing about girls. 

As James and Sirius resorted to glaring at each other, the doors opened again and five became six.

Standing at the doors was a boy that Remus had never seen before. He was a tall boy, even taller than Remus, and looked to be incredibly uncomfortable at the moment.

"Mme. Pomfrey? I'm here for the... um..."

Pemona looked to the boy and smiled. 'Yes, of course, dear. I'll only be a moment." And with that, she rushed off to her office, leaving the five boys alone in the wing.

"Hello," Sirius said, either completely oblivious the boy's discomfort on not caring at all. "What brings you to this fine hospital wing today?"

"Just, um, collecting some medicine."

"What kind of- Ow! James, what'd you do that for?" the raven-haired boy yelped, rubbing the spot on his arm that James had just pinched.

"You don't just ask someone what kind of medicine they need! Honestly, Sirius, that's just common sense!"

Remus intervened before a fight broke out in front of his bed. "Right, well. I'm Remus. What's your name?" he asked the Hufflepuff boy standing in front of him.

"I'm Nox." The boy replied, remaining a good ten feet away from the Marauders.

"Your name is Nox? That's rough- Ow!" Sirius rubbed his other arm, where Remus had pinched him.

"Don't be a git, Sirius! I think it's a great name." He turned back to the brown-eyed boy, who nodded skeptically.

"Thanks, I guess."

Mme. Pomfrey emerged from her office then, carrying a bottle of what looked to be pumpkin juice, but what Remus assumed was definitely not, judging by the look the boy, Nox, made upon seeing it.

"Thank you, Mme. It really means a lot." He said, scurrying out the door to wherever it was he was going.

Remus kind of wished that he had stayed.


	4. Chapter 3

**_"And_** he just accepted the fact that you broke school rules without question?" Penny asked Nox incredulously, eyes wide with surprise. The boy nodded.

"Asked me if I found any harm in looking at stars, and sent me on my way."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. Why are you so surprised?"

"Because, well, he's the headmaster! Isn't he supposed to be informing the rules?"

"Penny, I thought that we had both agreed that Dumbledore went mad long ago." The Hufflepuff said, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"I suppose you're right," the girl gave in, sighing. "I just don't get it."

"What don't you get?"

"Well, I mean, how haven't they fired him yet? Given him the boot?"

"Penny, he's a madman, sure, but he's a bloody brilliant one."

The smaller girl shook her head. "I guess there's no use worrying about it now though. So let's eat instead."

"Now that, Penny, is an absolutely fantastic idea."

⇞

"Penny, you can't be serious." Not crossed his arms, looking at the girl.

"Maybe not, be he is." The blonde girl replied, pointing to a dark-haired boy standing a couple of feet away. When the boy tuned around, he was revealed to be... Sirius Black. 

Nox groaned. "Really?"

"Really."  The girl cracked up.

"Talking about me again, Penelope? I know I'm irresistible, don't deny it-"

"Call me Penelope one more time Black. I dare you." Penny snarled, turning to the black-haired boy.

Sirius gulped, smiling nervously. "Right then. Okay then. So, I'll be over there and... If you... Yeah."

As the Gryffindor scurried off, Nox smiled.

"Murley, that was absolutely brilliant. You know that, right?"

"yeah, I know." Penny smiled, winking. "Shall we go to Herbology good sir?"

"I believe we shall, yes."

The two began giggling uncontrollably, walking down the halls to the greenhouse.

"Hey, have you heard the Marauders talking recently?" The girl nudged the taller boy lightly.

"No, Penny. Not everybody needs to know everything all the time."

"Well, listen here, Roberts. I heard them teasing Remus about you."

Not started choking on the air entering his lungs. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Yeah," Penny nodded, eyes widening with excitement. "They were teasing him about wanting to talk to you again."

"How do you know they were talking about me?"

"Well, I mean, they said, and I do quote, 'We get it, Moony. You want to talk to that Nox kid again. Shut up about it already!"

"What the hell is a Moony?" the boy questioned.

"A name that they call Remus, obviously. Haven't you been listening?" Penny shot back to the boy, a little exasperated. "And really, I tell you that the boy that you've been crushing on since fourth year is wanting to talk to you and all that you have to say is 'what the hell is a Moony'? Honestly! Get some priorities!"

"Penny! Not so loud next time!" the boy was anxiously looking around, trying to figure out if anyone had heard. "I think that America heard you!"

Penny rolled her eyes in return. "Whatever. Priorities. Now, how are you going to initiate contact with the boy?"

"I'm going to initiate contact?" Not stopped his search immediately, looking to Penny with a frantic look in his eye. "No! I can't do that!"

"Yes, you can, and you will. You are going to take that curly mop of hair and that smile and march over to that boy over there," she pointed to the group of four boys sitting outside, "and talk to Remus!"

"No I'm not." Nox shook his head.

Penelope rolled her eyes, gave an exasperated ' _humph_ ', and began to make her way over to the boys herself.

"Penny? Penny! Penny, what on earth are you doing? No no no no no no Penny _please_!" the Hufflepuff was freaking out, to say the least. And Penny, well, she had reached the group of four boys, and was now pulling Remus up from the ground and they were-

**_NO!_ **

But, alas, all the silent praying that had just occurred in the Roberts boy's head was for naught, as, to his horror, Penelope Murley and Remus Lupin were walking straight towards him.

⇞

 _ **Remus**_ was confused, to say the very least. Penelope Murley had walked over to the Marauders and, without a word, had taken Remus's arm and had pulled him up from where he was sitting, a very comfortable patch of grass, thank you very much, and was now pulling him across the grounds.

Looking back to his friends for help, he saw that they were all laughing. _Bunch of bloody gits See if I help them tonight with-_

Remus's train of thought was interrupted by having his body being jerked back abruptly, and really painfully. Of course, he would never admit that to the boys, who were laughing even harder now.

"Remus, meet Nox. Nox, Remus. Know each other? Great! Talk."

The outgoing Hufflepuff girl left the pair then, walking straight towards the Marauders.

Remus turned to look at the shy Hufflepuff boy who's company he was now in. He had been intrigued by the smaller boy since their interaction in the Hospital Wing. And, well, Remus couldn't lie, Nox Roberts was a very attractive boy. Something that, when mentioned to the other Marauders, had made them tease him endlessly.

Needless to say, both boys were extremely red.

"Um, hi." the Gryffindor offered.

"H-Hello."

"It's really nice out today... isn't it?"

Remus had meant it to sound like a statement, but it hd ended up coming out as a question instead.

The Hufflepuff looked upwards. "Y-Yes. It is." the boy's eyes widened at something that he had just seen in the sky and Remus was worried.

"What. What is it?" he asked frantically.

"It's... It's Mars!"

Remus looked quizzically at the blond boy. Nox didn't seem to notice.

"But... But that's impossible! Mars isn't supposed to become visible until next Wednesday! It's more than a week early!"

"I'm sorry, but... What on earth are you talking about?" the werewolf inquired.

Nox looked to Remus, his eyes sparkling.

"Mars. Like the planet?" Remus nodded. He understood that much. "Well, you can see it at night sometimes, and during the day too. Like how you can sometimes see the moon in the day. Anyways, Mars was only supposed to become visible in a week from tomorrow. And... And I can see it now!"

"Where?" The Gryffindor boy was definitely interested now.

"There," the shorter of the two pointed up to the sky, and Remus could barely see the outline of something red. How could Nox have been able to make that out? "Do you see it?"

"I... I think so. But wait." Nox looked to Remus again, tearing his eyes away from the sky.

"If it's supposed to be out... or whatever, next week, then why can we see it now?"

⇞

 _ **Penny**_ smiled, sitting down next to the group of the Gryffindor boys.

"What are you smiling about, Murley? And why did you drag Remus off?" Sirius asked, having recovered from his laughing fit.

" _That's_ why I'm smiling." the girl answered, pointing to where Remus and Nox were both talking animatedly about something or other.


	5. Chapter 4

**_Walking_** into the Hufflepuff common room later that day, Nox found Penny lounging on one of the plush couches, humming an Aerosmith song with her eyes closed, seemingly in her element. And as her best friend, Nox thought it his business to disrupt her.

"Penelope Murley! How dare you?! You left me alone with that boy! All! Alone! And I was left there, looking like an idiot, an bumbling on and on about Mars. Mars, Penny! And-"

Penny held up a finger, concerning Nox's lips with it, as the boy had approached her during his little monologue, and she sat up, opened her eyes, and smiled at him, the kind of smile one would give to an adorable puppy one walks by on the street.

"Nox, darling, did I, or did I not, get you speaking to you crush, and were you, or were you not, smiling like a fool the entire time?"

Nox's eyes widened. "I was smiling like a fool?"

Penny nodded, and Nox groaned, collapsing onto the couch next to his best friend, resting his head on her lap.

"How bad was it?"

"Well... pretty bad. _But_ , Remus was smiling like a fool the entire time too!"

This made Nox feel a lot better, and a lot happier, and a lot less upset with Penny, too.

"You're forgiven."

"I know."

Nox laughed at his best friend's confidence. That was who she was. A confidence overload. Nad it wasn't a bad thing, wither. Whether the blonde decided to wear makeup or not, jeans or a dress, she knew she looked good, and nobody could tell her otherwise.

I mean, of course she was a little self-conscious. Everyone is. 

But most of that self consciousness was over-powered by her enormous ego, which Nox wouldn't saw was a bad thing to have either.

They stayed there for a while, just thinking. Just enjoying each other's company, with Nox's head resting on Penny's lap, and Penny's fingers in his hair, lightly humming the same Aerosmith song as she had been earlier.

"Hey, could you stop lying on that couch if you're not going to do anything? Some people want to actually sit and talk, you know!"

And there was Jeremy Valden, the git who the two had to share a common room with. Looking up at him innocently, Penny nodded her head.

"You're right. There are people who want to wait and talk." 

Jeremy smirked, thinking he had won, but Penny continued.

"So, Nox, tell me everything about earlier. I want every. Last. Word. Capiche?"

And Jeremy groaned, stamping his foot angrily on the ground. The boy was used to getting his way, and this was not his way.

"You know what I meant, Murley." He growled maliciously, and Penny gave him one more innocent smile, flashing him her pearly whites.

"You're right, Jeremy. I do know what you meant. But that doesn't mean I'll listen to you." And, deciding that she was done with that particular conversation, she looked down at Nox once more. "Now, where were you?"

And Nox just laughed and nodded his head, ignoring Jeremy as well. 

"Well, we spoke about Mars."

"Mars? Like the Greek god?"

"Mars is a Roman god. You're thinking Ares. Anyways, no, the planet."

"You and Remus were having a conversation about a rock in the sky..."

"Penny!"

"Right, right. Mars, whoo. Planets and space and... stuff..."

"PENNY!"

⇞

" ** _Sirius_** Black! You come here right now!"

As Sirius made his way into his dorm room, which he shared with his friends, he grimaced. Clothes were laying all around the floor, and there was no doubt that they were his clothes. That was his Rolling Stones t-shirt, which Remus had given him for his birthday the year before. 

And those were his socks. Bright, rainbow socks. They were the ones that annoyed Minnie the most, so they were his favourite.

And, as he looked up from the floor, he was met with the bright red face of Remus Lupin, one of his best friends, and, by far, his most uptight roommate.

As Sirius gave the tall boy a shy, guilty smile, Remus's face only got redder.

"How many times have I told you to _clean your clothes up_!?"

"Umm..." Sirius made a show of counting his fingers, and Remus groaned.

"Sirius! Please, for the love of Merlin, clean up! It's like we live in a pigsty!"

"Oh, shut up, Lupin," James interjected, walking into the room and heading over to his bed. "It's not that bad. And not all of us can be perfectly organized, like a certain wolf boy we know."

With Remus' face returning to its normal colour, he took a deep breath in.

"You're right. But you can at least _pick up your god damn clothes_!"

"Merlin's beard, Remus! Please! Just... go talk to your boyfriend some more, or somthing! Just leave us alone!" 

And as Sirius' words sunk into Remus' mind, his face grew red once more.

"He's not m boyfriend!"

"Not yet." James murmured from his bed, where he was writing, no doubt another poem to Lily.

Huffing, Remus walked straight out of the room, leaving Sirius and James giggling like preteen girls.

⇞

 _ **The**_ next day, as Remus made his way to the Library, _alone_ , he might add, because his friends had gotten themselves banned from the library for the remainder of the week.

Thinking about the day before, and his conversation with the blond boy who loved nothing more than he loved the sky, he entered the library, and made his way to an empty desk to begin his homework, which the other Marauders would no doubt copy later on.

Halfway through his potions essay, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and as he turned around, his eyes met those of Penny Murley, the best friend of the by with stars in his eyes.

"Hello!"

Remus let out a little squeak, as he had most definitely not been expecting this encounter.

As Penny gave him an inquisitive look, cocking her head to the side just like a dog would, she shrugged, tucking the blonde hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear, and spoke once more.

"Get up, Lupin. And bring your things, you won't be coming back here."

Now, Remus Lupin never had been one for confrontation, so he kind of just... Packed up his things, and went with Penelope ti what he assumed would be his death. He just hoped that James wouldn't write a poem to present at his funeral.


End file.
